WestTxCruiser

We will be boarding her next Sunday, so excited!!!:D:D

Sail Date: 1-18-15 on the Magic

We were originally booked in an Aft balcony on Deck 6, then switched to a Balcony Gty in Nov due to awesome price ($520 per person).

Cabin was assigned on 12-19-14

Vista Deck (Deck 9) Forward, Port. We are very happy.

We did receive the Upsell call a few days ago for an Ocean Suite for $500 more, we declined.....that $500 will be used in the casino/bars/ports.

Single digit dancing!!!!

Single Digit Dancing here too!!!!:D:D

We had an ocean suite on the Valor a couple years ago and loved it, especially since we had our daughter with us, was great having the extra room. We got the same upgrade offer a couple of days ago but we turned it down this time since its just the hubby and I cruising. You will love it, happy sailing!!!!!:)

This place was really bad. This is a man-made island with a hard packed shell and sand mixture held in place with retaining walls. The whole island is about 50 yds by 125 yds. There is a smallish area for swimming, but the bottom has been churned up and if you try to stand up you sink up to your ankles. There is nothing to see in this area if you want to snorkel. The sand in the beach area is too packed down for any children to dig or try to play in. There are plenty of starfish in the area, but if you go past the ropes that designate the swimming area, or over a retaining wall (only about 18" high), the security guys will come after you.

 

When you get off the tender, there are some buildings to the right - bar/restaurant, restrooms, kitchen, gift shop, and lunch area. To the left are the kayak storage building, first aid hut, and the small playset. Also in this area is a small pen for a starfish and several conchs. The very uncomfortable hard wooden loungers are situated facing away from the tender dock towards the ocean. There are not enough of them. Do not under any circumstances use the loungers that are near the restaurant unless you like the smell of overused grease and toilets.

 

The service is a joke. There is none. I never saw a waiter. If you are lucky, the lady renting the body boards and kayaks won't be on break. The only thing to do on the island is to rent a kayak or drink (if you can track down the bartender). There are no floating lounging mats. I was told that the management won't invest in any. The day I was there the water was calm and the swimming area has some type of floating breakers to lessen the waves, so I don't think that the body boards are for anything but floating on.

 

Lunch was included in my excursion - but it was essentially inedible. The rice and beans was decent, but the chicken was so dry that it was hard on the outside, and I don't eat mayonnaise based salads when they have been sitting without ice for who knows how long. The punch was tasty and wet. I was unable to get water with out buying it. Good thing I brought a water bottle with me.

 

There were 8 excursions using the island that day. I was glad that mine got there first. Two Carnival and two NCL ships all had a beach break and a snorkeling with beach break excursion. There were no where near enough loungers. I spoke with someone who had been on the snorkeling trip and they felt like they were rushed so they could be dropped off at the island. I was there for 4 hours and would have gotten off sooner if I could have. This is not a place to take children. One poor family had a 3 yr old with them thinking this would be a nice family day. The child kept sinking in the sand in the water and was scared, she couldn't play in the sand because there is no loose sand, the playset was fine for about 10 min, and she was too young to go in a kayak. These poor people were miserable after about an hour.

 

And the entertainment was an Elvis impersonator! Not exactly what I think of when I think tropical. His show lasts an hour and can be heard from all over the island.

 

I was so glad to be off the island!

Thanks for the info, was looking at booking this......not now.

Loved your review, your Son is adorable!!!!!!

Thank you for your review, enjoyed it! We sail on the Magic Jan 18th, our 11th cruise but 1st on the Magic!!

Our Son spent most of his in the Arcade, we always gave him between $50 and $100, depending on the length of the cruise. Our youngest has not had charging privileges, YET. Also all of our phones are turned off and locked in the safe as soon we sail so there are no surprise charges!!:eek:

Enjoying your review!! We will be on the Magic in Jan, we are also staying at the Four Points Sheraton. Looking forward to the rest!!

Can't wait for the rest, Lambie!! We will be on the Magic in January, our first Magic cruise and our first wedding cruise......gonna be a blast!!!! :):)

Really enjoying your review. We sail on the Magic in Jan (our 1st time on the Magic) for a friends wedding, same itinerary.

Our kids were 5, 11 and 17 on our first cruise in 2009, one of their fondest memories of that cruise and all the ones since then is the fancy dinners in the dining room. They too had to be persuaded to try some of the "exotic" foods......they were troopers and learned that you truly can't judge a book by it's cover. Try it you might like it. However, I did have a flashback to Julia Robert's in Pretty Woman......The Escargot scene.....that was our oldest daughter when she tried the Escargot.....she said "slippery little suckers".:p

Lovin' your review!! I am in major cruise withdrawal right now, been way too long. Come on Jan!!!:D:D

We just returned from the Valor, we purchased the Cheers program and I will say for us it was great. $402.20 per person. Doing the math based on our S&S bills it looks like our average price per drink came out to less than $6 per drink........considering one beer without cheers on the first day was over $7 with tax and tip.......less than $6 is good. I drank Mimosas, Beer, Wine and some DOD's. Hubby was Beer and Mixed Drinks.

We never hit the 15 drink limit, only because of the amount of port days for this sailing.

We would definitely do it again and it was really nice knowing our S & S bill was already paid because we prepaid our gratuities. Only thing extra that was charged was 2 pics and some candy for our daughter. The lowest S&S bill in 10 cruises......I think I'll book another one!!!!:D:D

Thanks for doing a review, we cruise on the Valor in just over 2 weeks!!!!:D

We have been there twice and had a great time both times. It's clean, no haggling from locals, good food and good drinks.:D

Don't second guess your decision, you will have a great day!!:)

I gained 16 lbs and i'm struggling to get it off. Tracy gained 8 lbs and she's almost back to her normal weight.:(

WOW, just imagine how much it would have been had you not worked out.:eek:

This has been an amazing review.....I'm gonna be so sad when it is over. :(

You have a beautiful family!

WOW, this is gonna be FUN!!! :D

I've been trying to confirm myself. I spoke to someone who was on last week and specifically asked, she didn't know what I was talking about so maybe not.

I was told today that YES the Mongolian Grill is now open on the Conquest.....

Hi, and thanks for the reply! I'm not much of a blog reader but I have been reading trip reports here on the board. One from Mach (i think I spelled that right) from a recent trip had the Captain's reception on Monday. Again, I think it was Monday. It had a funny acronym like the 'She Who must be obeyed' that a friend of mine uses for his wife. :p

 

Would you happen to know if the reception is Monday? I forgot to ask ^^ up there with my other questions!

 

Oh, I do get that it can vary, too :-) But I'm just looking for "usual/regular/normal" ya know? :)

 

TIA,

Sherry

When we sailed in June the Captains party was on Mon, same night as 1st formal night.

How's this for a resemblance?

 

Two precious little girls, could be sisters!!

I'll find a picture that shows it even better...

I just showed Tara, she said Momma who is that lady holding me? lol!!

Your daughter (I assume) is a twin of my niece. I'm not sure if you can tell in this picture, but they look almost identical!

 

OMG!! That is pretty amazing. They say everyone has a twin. I'll have to show my daughter when she gets home from school.

This is one of my favorites, our first cruise.

The conquest Crazy thread!!! We get together online every sunday morning to watch the ship come into port and watch them leave again that evening. We were all watching intently over the past couple months as fog delays were almost more than the norm than unusual. Come on over on sundays and enjoy the banter. Ask questions because we can usually answer them or we can bluff our way through it. We even booked a group cruise in 09 of 09.

He's telling the truth too!!!